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At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Computer-assisted densitometric image analysis in periodontal radiography. A methodological study.

A videobased computer assisted densitometric image analysis (CADIA) system to quantify alveolar bone density changes on standardized dental radiographs was tested. An algorithm was used for grey level correction of a subsequent image to the baseline image. Quantitative information regarding positive and/or negative grey level changes were obtained automatically. Comparison of the ability of CADIA to detect surgically induced bone loss with interpretation of digital subtraction images and conventional radiographic interpretation revealed that CADIA was the most sensitive of the 3 methods, followed by interpretation of digital subtraction images which was considerably more sensitive than conventional radiographic interpretation. CADIA was capable of assessing differences in alveolar bone changes due to periodontal surgery between sites exposed to ostectomy/osteoplasty and control sites and sites exposed to periodontal surgery without ostectomy/osteoplasty. Finally, CADIA was capable of assessing differences in remodeling activity over 4-6 weeks after periodontal surgery between 45 surgical sites and 45 control sites. The system offers an objective method to quantitatively follow alveolar bone density changes over time and appears to be the most sensitive of previously described radiographic interpretation techniques.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed2001

Fundamentals of the model behind the COSMOS methodology used for team assessment in simulator training.

Team working is the basic way of working in the control rooms of hazardous technologies and therefore its quality is a safety-relevant issue. In addition to the technological competence it is also crucial for the crews to have the necessary communicational skills. During simulator training these skills can only be improved if the simulator use is embedded in an appropriate setting. To support this skill acquisition a computer-supported methodology called COSMOS (COmputer Supported Method for Operators' Self-assessment) has been developed. With its help more effective communication and more complete shared mental models can be fostered. This paper is a report on the psychological fundamentals and the mathematical model of the COSMOS methodology.

Communication↗
PubMed2003

A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of bibliotherapy for alcohol problems.

There has been increased interest in the use of brief interventions and the delivery of alcohol treatment services through nonspecialist health care settings. One possible resource for reaching untreated individuals is "bibliotherapy," the provision of self-help materials to motivate and guide the process of changing drinking behavior. Research on the effectiveness of self-help materials for problem drinkers has been done for three decades. This report summarizes a meta-analytic review of 22 studies evaluating the effectiveness of such self-help materials. Each study was rated on 12 methodological criteria, and effect sizes of bibliotherapy were computed. The methodological quality of studies was generally high relative to other treatment-outcome studies. Modest support was found for the efficacy of self-help materials in decreasing at-risk and harmful drinking. The weighted mean pre/post-effect size for bibliotherapy was .80 with self-referred individuals seeking help for drinking problems, and .65 for individuals identified through health screening. Between-group comparisons of bibliotherapy with no-intervention controls appear to have a small to medium effect, with a weighted mean effect size of .31 with self-referred drinkers; effect size was more variable in opportunistic interventions based on health screening. Finally, between-group comparisons of effects on drinking of bibliotherapy versus more extensive interventions yielded effect size values near zero. These findings provide support for the cost-effective use of bibliotherapy with problem drinkers seeking such help to reduce their consumption, and to a lesser extent with drinkers who are identified through screening as at risk.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1998

A multipurpose model of radiology appropriateness criteria.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Appropriateness criteria and practice guidelines are being developed in attempts to improve the cost-effectiveness of medical care. The authors sought to make a set of radiology appropriateness criteria usable for education, computer-based decision support, and utilization review. MODEL DEVELOPMENT: Sixty clinical conditions from the American College of Radiology's appropriateness criteria were selected. To make the information more suitable for automation, the names of the imaging procedures were standardized. Indexing terms were assigned to identify clinical conditions and to distinguish between each condition's variants. Semantic relationships between terms were defined. Information about the clinical conditions and variants, radiologic procedures, indexing terms, and relationships was encoded into a standardized language for document interchange. IMPLEMENTATION: The 1,956 rows in the appropriateness criteria tables for the 60 clinical conditions and their 212 variants were mapped into references to 163 distinct imaging procedures. The system's knowledge base included 301 indexing terms and 569 additional terms. CONCLUSION: Radiology appropriateness criteria can be indexed and encoded into a form that facilitates their use and interchange. The use of open, internationally accepted standards is an important step to make such knowledge portable and suitable for integration with evolving computer-based patient record systems.

Computing Methodologies↗
PubMed2003

Intelligent machines in the twenty-first century: foundations of inference and inquiry.

The last century saw the application of Boolean algebra to the construction of computing machines, which work by applying logical transformations to information contained in their memory. The development of information theory and the generalization of Boolean algebra to Bayesian inference have enabled these computing machines, in the last quarter of the twentieth century, to be endowed with the ability to learn by making inferences from data. This revolution is just beginning as new computational techniques continue to make difficult problems more accessible. Recent advances in our understanding of the foundations of probability theory have revealed implications for areas other than logic. Of relevance to intelligent machines, we recently identified the algebra of questions as the free distributive algebra, which will now allow us to work with questions in a way analogous to that which Boolean algebra enables us to work with logical statements. In this paper, we examine the foundations of inference and inquiry. We begin with a history of inferential reasoning, highlighting key concepts that have led to the automation of inference in modern machine-learning systems. We then discuss the foundations of inference in more detail using a modern viewpoint that relies on the mathematics of partially ordered sets and the scaffolding of lattice theory. This new viewpoint allows us to develop the logic of inquiry and introduce a measure describing the relevance of a proposed question to an unresolved issue. Last, we will demonstrate the automation of inference, and discuss how this new logic of inquiry will enable intelligent machines to ask questions. Automation of both inference and inquiry promises to allow robots to perform science in the far reaches of our solar system and in other star systems by enabling them not only to make inferences from data, but also to decide which question to ask, which experiment to perform, or which measurement to take given what they have learned and what they are designed to understand.

Artificial Intelligence↗
PubMed2001

EthoVision: a versatile video tracking system for automation of behavioral experiments.

The need for automating behavioral observations and the evolution of systems developed for that purpose is outlined. Video tracking systems enable researchers to study behavior in a reliable and consistent way and over longer time periods than if they were using manual recording. To overcome limitations of currently available systems, we have designed EthoVision, an integrated system for automatic recording of activity, movement, and interactions of animals. The EthoVision software is presented, highlighting some key features that separate EthoVision from other systems: easy file management, independent variable definition, flexible arena and zone design, several methods of data acquisition allowing identification and tracking of multiple animals in multiple arenas, and tools for visualization of the tracks and calculation of a range of analysis parameters. A review of studies using EthoVision is presented, demonstrating the system's use in a wide variety of applications. Possible future directions for development are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Unenhanced spiral CT for evaluating acute appendicitis in daily routine. A prospective study.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The purpose of this study was to define in a routine setting the role of spiral computed tomography in patients with suspected acute appendicitis and to determine the effect of computed tomography on the treatment of such patients. METHODOLOGY: Appendiceal computed tomography was performed in 120 consecutive patients with acute appendicitis in the differential diagnosis, whose clinical findings were insufficient to perform surgery or to discharge from the hospital. Each scan was obtained in a single breath hold from the lower abdomen to the upper pelvis using a 5-mm collimation and a pitch of 1.6. Computed tomography results were correlated with surgical and pathologic findings at appendectomy or clinical follow-up. RESULTS: Eighty-eight of the 93 patients with acute appendicitis were correctly diagnosed by computed tomography, 24 of the 27 patients without acute appendicitis were correctly diagnosed by computed tomography (95% sensitivity, 89% specificity). Computed tomography signs of acute appendicitis included fat stranding (100%), enlarged appendix (> 6 mm) (97%), adenopathy (63%), appendicoliths (43%), abscess (10%), and phlegmon (5%). CONCLUSIONS: The use of spiral computed tomography in patients with equivocal clinical presentation suspected of having acute appendicitis led to a significant improvement in the preoperative diagnosis and a lower negative appendectomy rate. Appendiceal computed tomography is an accurate technique even if performed in the daily routine of scanning.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2001

A methodological tool for computer-assisted surgery interface design: its application to computer-assisted pericardial puncture.

Computer Assisted Surgery systems are becoming more and more prevalent. Design processes currently used, pay only a small attention to the surgeon's interaction. To address this lack in design, we propose the OP-a-S notation: OP-a-S modeling of a system adopts an interaction-centered point of view and highlights the links between the real world and the virtual world. Based on an OP-a-S modeling, predictive usability analysis can be performed by considering the ergonomic property. We illustrate our method on the retro-design of a computer assisted surgical application, CASPER.

Computer Simulation↗
PubMed2001

An automated tool for an analysis of compliance to evidence-based clinical guidelines.

Evidence-based clinical guidelines have been developed in an attempt to decrease practice variation and improve patient outcomes. Although a number of studies and a few commercial products have attempted to measure guideline compliance, there still exists a strong need for an automated product that can take as input large amounts of data and create systematic and detailed profiles of compliance to evidence-based guidelines. The Guideline Compliance Assessment Tool is a product presently under development in our group that will accept as input medical and pharmacy claims data and create a guideline compliance profile that assesses provider practice patterns as compared to evidence-based standards. The system components include an episode of care grouper to standardize classifications of illnesses, an evidence-based guideline knowledge base that potentially contains information on several hundred distinct conditions, a guideline compliance scoring system that emphasizes systematic guideline variance rather than random variances, and an advanced data warehouse that would allow drilling into specific areas of interest. As provider profiling begins to shift away from a primary emphasis on cost to an emphasis on quality, automated methods for measuring guideline compliance will become important in measuring provider performance and increasing guideline usage, consequently improving the standard of care and the potential for better patient outcomes.

Computing Methodologies↗
PubMed1992

Structure-activity study and design of multidrug-resistant reversal compounds by a computer automated structure evaluation methodology.

We have studied the relation between the structure and the multidrug resistance-reversal activity of a set of diverse chemicals with the MULTICASE structure-activity program. A number of key structural features were identified as being related to multidrug resistance reversal activity. Using these key features, we identified seven new compounds predicted to have substantial activity. These were obtained and tested experimentally on a CHO/CHRC5 cell line derived from the AB1 Chinese hamster ovary line in the presence of vincristine and vinblastine. Of the seven compounds tested so far, four showed substantial reversal activity, the most potent of them exhibiting activity at par with verapamil.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Medicare program; schedule of limits on home health agency costs per visit for cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 1985--HCFA. Proposed notice.

This notice sets forth a proposed schedule of limits on home health agency (HHA) costs that may be reimbursed under the Medicare program. The schedule is an update of the limits to take into account more recent data and the effects of inflation on HHA operating costs and would apply to HHA costs for entire cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 1985. The notice also explains the basic methodology for computing the cost limits and proposed changes to that methodology.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S.↗